Kerry Cohen HoffmannCritiques

I wanted to like this book, but I couldn't. I seriously wanted to tell this book "it's not you, it's me" for several reasons. First off I'm not wild about 3rd person and in this one especially. Also I realized that I don't like the feeling I get when I read about someone who is making a complete ass of themselves. I feel embarrassed reading it. I hope no one out there would be so pathetic as Zoe was. It was painful to read and even by the end I don't feel like she really got it.

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The main character is a little bat shit crazy. I don't think I know anyone who would go through the lengths she did for a boy. That's just silliness.

It was an okay read. Quick and easy to get through. Goodtimes.

This book, in my opinion, was terrific. I read it in one day, it's a quick read, and definitely worth it.

The main character, Zoe,is head over heels for her boyfriend Henry, and he breaks up with her. She's willing to go through anything to get him back. She goes through a numerous amount of changes, both on the outside and inside, and does some pretty crazy things.

The characters in this book are so memorable, I loved every one of them. This is an extremely relatable story, and it's funny while you also feel bad for Zoe. This book is great for anyone who just had a breakup, is trying to find themselves, or just for a quick read. I definitely recommend it!½

After six months and 218 kisses, Zoe is blindsided when boyfriend Henry tells her he wants out--he wants to focus on his band, he says, and not have a girlfriend right now. Zoe takes the news calmly, but she won't take it lying down. Zoe writes him poems and sneaks them into his locker, his pants pocket (while he's in gym class), even his bedroom window, in her efforts to win him back. Zoe's best friends Julia and Shannon discourage her and tell her she's acting crazy, but she can't help herself. In an effort to preserve what's left of Zoe's dignity, Shannon and Julia devise Plan B: make Henry jealous. It's a plan that works, but maybe doesn't work exactly as intended....

Zoe, by all accounts, has been completely wrapped up in Henry since hey started dating, to the exclusion of her own friends and interests, and now that he's extricated himself from her life, Zoe has trouble coping with this loss of identity. It's a common story and realistically told--one can't help but have sympathy for Zoe, despite her whining and desperate behavior. Her friends are one-dimensional and Zoe is the center of everyone's lives: Shannon offers advice on moving on, Julia encourages Zoe to get back to the things she enjoyed, and her friend Sam's support amounts to his suggestions that he would be an excellent boyfriend now that Zoe is single again. The use of the present tense in writing forces the story to be more immediate than the plot warrants, and while there's hope for Zoe a month post-breakup, the characters never really change or gain much perspective. Some grammatical, syntax, and punctuation errors distract from the writing, though these, hopefully, will be fixed before publication. An okay book, but not a necessary one.

I've read two other books by Kerry Cohen that I enjoyed, and I can say the same about this book too, for sure. It follows the narrator, Zoe through the first 31 days after her first breakup and the crazy things she does to get her ex to notice her, all in hopes he'll want to get back together. And in the end, she finds herself again and what it means to stay true to the one person who means the most. A quick, short read, I definitely recommend this book.

Full review at http://yannabe.com/2010/01/28/review-its-not-you-its-me/

Summary: After 6 months of happiness, Zoe’s boyfriend Henry dumps her so he can focus on his band. But Zoe thinks—no, knows—he’s made a huge mistake, and she sets out to win him back.

Review: Jack Tumor was an impulse pick from the library that paid off. This impulse pick, not so much.

From the very start of the book, the main character was over-the-top psycho, with a capital CRAZY. She just could not function on even the most basic level.

How about an example, lest you think I’m being unfair? In the first chapter, Zoe calls her boyfriend Henry at their normal time of 9 pm. He doesn’t answer. So she calls one of her friends, then another, to discuss what might be going on. Here’s a snippet of her second conversation, with her friend Shannon:

“I know you,” Shannon continues. “You’ve already turned this into Something Meaningful. Nothing’s happened. He didn’t answer his phone, that’s it.”

“But in six months?” Zoe can hear the whine in her voice. “In six months we haven’t missed a nine p.m. phone call.”

“Zoe.” Shannon only uses Zoe’s full name when she means business. “I’m not saying things look good, but you have no proof that things are bad either.”

“Maybe I can get proof,” Zoe says in a measured voice.

“Zoe.”

“I could go over there, just happen to be walking by.”

“Zoe!”

“Or I could quickly peek in the windows. I’d only have to see Henry to know what he’s feeling.”

This is on page 4. Her obsession only ramps up from there. Later, she does “just happen to” walk by. And worse.

We’ve all experienced a touch of the crazy in our dating lives. But this is extreme. And the way that it’s presented, I often had the feeling I was supposed to be laughing at Zoe’s ridiculousness. That didn’t exactly help me empathize and connect with her. Zoe is a caricature, not a character.

The mechanics of the writing were fine. I just didn’t care about the main character. The only reason I finished reading it is because I got caught holding a napping toddler without another book to switch to.

Zoe loves Henry. They've been dating for six months, a time when she has counted his kisses and devoted herself entirely to supporting Henry and his band. Which makes it all the more devastating when Henry breaks up with her. Zoe pretends to be fine with it, but only because she is sure she can win Henry back. Despite warnings from her friends and family, Zoe dives headlong into obsession; she writes Henry poems and creates photo-collages; she sneaks them into his bedroom and his school locker while stealing pens and smelling his clothing. Her two best friends do what they can to stop Zoe and then finally give in, helping her try to win him back by making him jealous. Over the course of a month, we see Zoe's life after D-Day, Dumping Day, and how she overreacts, obsesses, and embarrasses herself, finally realizing that giving herself up to be with Henry was a mistake.

This book tends to hit you over the message to stay true to yourself. Zoe moves into stalker territory fairly quickly and you'll find yourself cringing at her poems and her addiction to Henry. However, teens may find a lot to relate to in Zoe's story. Hoffmann captures the pain of having to see an ex at school every day and listen to the rumors fly, adding in humor to lighten the mood. Some of the characters are stereotypes - there's the boy that Zoe obviously should be dating, the inattentive parents, and the well-meaning-but-goofy teacher. The ending also wraps up too quickly, with Zoe's big embarrassing moment passing in a blur and her sudden realization that she needs to let Henry go. This is a meh book, not bad, but not one you must have.

It's a good girl gone bad. She admits she is a stealer. AHS/AT

Reviewed by LadyJay for TeensReadToo.com

Zoe Gill has been dating Henry for six months. SIX MONTHS!!! In teenage years, that is a lifetime! She has counted every single kiss; every single moment they have been together.

Zoe believed that their bond would last forever. But now, something has gone horribly awry. Henry doesn't answer his phone at the predetermined time of 9:00pm. Zoe begins to analyze Henry's behavior. He has been acting strangely.....

Zoe frantically enlists the help of her friends, Julia and Shannon, to identify this peculiar behavior. Like true friends, they tell her not to worry, and that everything will be fine at school the next day.

Inevitably, it's not fine. These were the first signs of a major teenage break-up. Zoe is desperate to discover what she did wrong, and ultimately, how to win back Henry's heart. Should she make him jealous? What if she ignores him?

Zoe is willing to go to any lengths to get Henry back, but is he really worth it?

Kerry Cohen Hoffmann has written a story of teenage love and loss that takes place over the course of a month. The reader is able to watch what happens to Zoe after the demise of her relationship with Henry. She suffers unbelievable lows, but eventually discovers that she must begin to love herself before anyone else will. Any girl who has had their heart broken will identify with Zoe's plight.

We've all been there.........done that.

Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com

If there was ever a book that captures the extreme discomfort of coming into your own self, then EASY is that book. Fourteen-year-old Jessica lives a life in turmoil. Whether all of the turmoil is real or imagined doesn't matter. What's important is that for this girl who once knew exactly who she was and what place she held in the world, she no longer knows anything at all.

It was simple once. There was her mom, and dad, and older sister, Anne. There was school and her best friend, Elisabeth. Most of all there was photography, and Ruth, the art teacher she's had since seventh grade. But now her parents are divorced; her mom is unable to cope, and her dad has a new girlfriend, Dana, who caused her parent's split. Anne is busy alternately hating their father and being the parent to their mother. Ruth is equally busy hounding Jessica for her self-portrait that's to be entered in the national high school art contest.

But Jessica doesn't find the same comfort behind the camera that she'd once took for granted. In fact, Jessica doesn't take comfort in much of anything, except the new-found confidence she has when she's around members of the opposite sex. She finds herself lying in bed at night, reconstructing scenes with Jason, her crush. Somehow, though, it's not enough, this wanting from afar. Her body has changed, almost beyond recognition, and the catcalls and whistles from guys on the street give Jessica a feeling she hasn't had before--that of being admired, wanted, needed.

When she meets Ted, a guy in his twenties who stops for her on the highway, her initial wariness quickly turns to feelings of power. This guy desires her. He needs her. She, the girl who hasn't felt loved or wanted for such a long time, finally has the type of power that makes her feel alive.

This type of power doesn't last, and it's only a matter of time before Jessica figures this out. While her father is planning to marry his once-mistress, and her sister gets an actual boyfriend, and her mother revels in her misery, it will take some drastic circumstances before Jessica realizes just what, exactly, she's become. When she finally figures out which photograph to use for her self-portrait, it's not pretty. But neither, she realizes, is real life.

This is a book that, like its title suggests, is terribly easy to relate to. Even in this day and age, it is extremely simple for females to equate desire and attraction with self-worth and love. Whether it's the way of our society or the fault of the media, young girls especially learn from an early age that being wanted by males makes you a better female. EASY shows, without ever being preachy or self-effacing, the fallacy in this way of thinking. This is a definite winner that I highly recommend to anyone and everyone. Kudos to Ms. Hoffmann for such an emotional, heartfelt story.

It’s Not You, It’s Me is a brutally honest story of the aftereffects of a breakup. It’s a fairly common story-line, and I didn’t feel that It’s Not You, It’s Me brought anything new to the table. Except a truly psychotic MC. I couldn’t sympathize with Zoe at all, her character is extremely whinny and possibly unstable. Her friends were one-dimensional... I’m not really sure why they were in the story except to give Zoe advice, which she didn’t take. I never really felt that Zoe gained any perspective once the story concluded. I know being in love can make you do crazy things, but some of this stuff was even too much for me, and I’m very open minded.

Like many have said the character of Zoe comes off as a nut, basically sabotaging any chance she has of getting her ex-boyfriend back with her antics. Everyone tells her just leave it be, don't do that, don't say that, but she does it anyways without much thought. Even though she comes off as kind of crazy I feel like it depicts a bit of what any normal girlfriend might go through when she breaks up with the boy that really counts and this can be seen sort of as a cautionary tale. It sheds a bit of light on the ugly truth of breakup and the feelings that people might have (that they definitely should not act on.)

While Zoe was harder to swallow I rather liked the guys in the book. From Henry and his bandmate Niles to Sam, her friend that makes no secret of his crush on Zoe. They all seemed a lot more level-headed and also really seemed to care for Zoe even when she was acting crazy. I also liked Zoe's friends Julia and Shannon they tried to keep her on the right path for as long as they could and when that wasn't working that finally gave in and fed the craziness of Zoe and her plan.

The ending was a little meh but I think it was an appropriate ending for the message that I thought the author was trying to send. I really like how she and some of the characters stress that no matter who you are with, you need to maintain yourself and your own interests instead of losing yourself within someone else. I think that's a very important message that everyone needs to be reminded of from time to time.

Overall an interesting concept with probably a truer to life (but exaggerated) main character than we all want to admit to!

This book reminded me a of "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson. It wasn't written as creatively as "Speak," nor was it as engaging, but the storylines were similar. I appreciated the candid nature in which this book talked about teens and sex, but something about the way it was written seemed... off to me. The writing throughout the book was flat (Flat? Again, I can't put my finger on it...) causing me to feel very disconnected from the main character and unable to really get into the story. Or perhaps she just wasn't very likable.

Still, I think I should have been able to feel a little more for her than I did. I also thought the revelations and changes she made towards the end were rushed, contrived even. However, the book had a very important message, and again, I appreciate it when authors aren't afraid to speak candidly and realistically about teenagers and sex. Also, I really liked her final idea for her self-portrait!

School Library Journal
Gr 8-10-With the hindsight provided by two years' maturity, Jessica looks back on the year her parents divorced, her mother withdrew, her father moved in with his girlfriend, and she herself slipped into sexual activity that she almost immediately regretted. Hoffmann vividly depicts how a 12-year-old's confused desperation, need for comfort, and inability to know when or how to stop self-destructive behavior lead her down a perilous path. Even well-meaning friends and a concerned teacher have difficulty breaking through to her. It's almost an accident when an observant neighbor alerts her mother to a suspicious stranger-Jessica's lover-helping the girl to end that relationship. A pregnancy scare gives her additional reason to reflect on and question what she's been up to. In the end, she has the luck and support that enable her to change course. The writing is realistic, insightful, and nonjudgmental. This book can provide teens with some understanding as to why people might make risky choices while offering readers the assurance that bad decisions need not be irrevocable.-Miriam Lang Budin, Chappaqua Public Library, NY Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Reviewed by Mrs. Foley
Fourteen-year-old Jessica has realized it is easy to get the attention of boys and men, but she soon finds herself in over her head and longs for someone to help her. - From library catalog

This is a quick read (only 123 pages) and does explore how some girls (and guys) end up doing things that they know they shouldn't or that give them a reputation they would rather not have. That said, I wasn't too impressed with the book overall.

Review from Booklist:
After her parents' divorce, Jessica's father turns to a new love, and her mother is absorbed in grief and rejection. Jessica feels abandoned and unimportant until she becomes aware of the attention her blossoming body and sexuality can bring. Gradually, this attention seems more important than school, her budding talent as a photographer, or even her self-respect. In her desperate unhappiness, Jessica mistakes male lust and sex (described in frequent, frank scenes) with the beginning of a fulfilling relationship. Her photographer's eye can see her mother's neediness, but not her own; her former friend's status as easy, but not her own bad reputation. Hoffmann's writing talent saves the novel from becoming too didactic, even as the story hammers home a lesson that is far better for teenage girls to learn from a book than from experience.